Let’s Make Ramen!: A Comic Book Cookbook by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan

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*Published July 16, 2019*

This just looked really good and I love ramen and figured, “why not? Let’s check this out and see if I’m willing to give it a try.” And let me tell you, this comic cookbook make me HUNGRY!

A comic book cookbook with accessible ramen recipes for the home cook, including simple weeknight bowls, weekend project stocks, homemade noodles, and an array of delicious accompaniments, with insights and tips from notable ramen luminaries.

Playful and instructive, this hybrid cookbook/graphic novel introduces the history of ramen and provides more than 40 recipes for everything you need to make the perfect bowl at home including tares, broths, noodles, and toppings. Authors Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan present colorful, humorous, and easy-to-follow comics that fully illustrate the necessary steps and ingredients for delicious homemade ramen. Along the way, they share preparation shortcuts that make weeknight ramen a reality; provide meaty tidbits on Japanese culinary traditions; and feature words of wisdom, personal anecdotes, and cultural insights from eminent ramen figures such as chef Ivan Orkin and Ramen Adventures’ Brian MacDuckston. Recipes include broths like Shio, Shoyu, Miso, and Tonkotsu, components such as Onsen Eggs, Chashu, and Menma, and offshoots like Mazemen, Tsukemen, and Yakisoba. Ideal for beginners, seasoned cooks, and armchair chefs alike, this comic book cookbook is an accessible, fun, and inviting introduction to one of Japan’s most popular and iconic dishes.

I honestly would not have minded making a ramen recipe, but as anyone who knows just the barest bit of ramen history/lore will tell you, it takes for fricken’ ever to make ramen. Granted, this cookbook claims to make it easy for the at home cook, but these were still some complicated recipes that were in the cookbook.

Also! I only like ramen, I do not love ramen. My husband on the other hand, he absolutely loves ramen, and so when he saw that I had this cookbook, he got his hopes up a little prematurely. Granted, I didn’t mean to do that, I was curious about this cookbook and what it had to say about making ramen at home.

All the recipes in this book sounded delicious and wonderful, and if I had the time to dedicate to making them, I might have found this book a bit more to my taste. But I currently have to time to sink into making this wonderful noodle dish, so no recipes were tried.

Overall, I would say that this is a accessible way to make ramen. The authors/artists love ramen and have tried to simplify the basics of ramen to that, the very basics. The artwork was also stunning, and is a big part of the reason why I choose to check this book out from my library, because it made the ramen look even more delicious and I really did want to try. But I have neither the time nor the patience to make these recipes. So, for now, the husband and I will just need to go out when we’re craving some ramen.

What ambitions did you have when you’d check out a cookbook? Did you fulfill those ambitions and try out a recipe? Or did you just look at the pictures of the food and make yourself even hungrier? Comment below and let me know!